The junior All-American sealed the Warhawks' third Stagg Bowl
victory in four years with just 2:34 left in the game. The UW-W
coaching staff leaped into the air. The purple stands on the far
side erupted in a deafening roar.

By the score of 31-21, UW-W became the undisputed champion of
Division III.

What was going through his mind as he capped a performance that
set a Stagg Bowl rushing record? He said three questions rattled
about: Was I going fast enough; should I zig-zag; and was there
anyone behind him?

The bottom line, though, "I was just hoping to get [to the end
zone] before anyone tackled me," he said.

Coppage's effort was part of a bookend of breakaway runs. In the
first quarter, he scored the first touchdown of the game with a
54-yard scamper, an overall performance worthy enough to earn him
his second-straight Stagg Bowl most valuable player honor.

In a press briefing after the game, Mount Union coach Larry
Kehres called Coppage a patient runner – with bite.

"He'll wait until he sees a gap in the defense, and then he's
explosive," Kehres said. "He can start and accelerate so
tremendously in the first 5 or 6 yards, then 'poof,' he gone."

The electricity that charged through the UW-W stands was
mirrored in somber fashion on the UMU side. As the final minutes
waned, Mount fans tried to breathe warmth into their hands amid the
brisk Salem air, silently shaking their heads in disappointment.
Three cheerleaders hugged, as one wrinkled her face with emotion
and fought back tears. And after the clock ticked away, most Purple
Raiders players kept their helmets on, a sure way to hide their
sadness. Cecil Shorts knelt on the field and watched the victors
celebrate.

Because while tears meant one thing for Mount Union, they meant
quite another for Whitewater. Warhawk players cried with joy on the
field. Quarterback Lee Brekke and linebacker Max Ford jumped into
each other's arms. Cornerback Matt McCulloch and linebacker Lance
Olson got celebratory slaps from head coach Lance Leipold. The mood
echoed the payoff that the hard-fought game deserved.

Tyler Huber got turned around and was off-balance
but made a touchdown catch to give UW-Whitewater a 24-21 lead going
to the break. The Warhawk defense made that stand
up.

As in every other Stagg Bowl meeting between these two teams,
the winner broke 30 points. But unlike games past, this one saw a
flurry of points during the first half and a near-shutout after the
break. Mount Union made its way on the board with three touchdowns
in a short four-minute span in the second quarter. Shorts hauled in
a 58-yard reception and had wide running room to the end zone. For
another, All-American defensive end Lambert Budzinski intercepted a
pass from Brekke and set up an easy score by returning it down to
the Whitewater 4 yard line.

"We were excited when we scored the first 21 points and how fast
we did it," said Mount Union quarterback Matt Piloto. "But we knew
we were going to have to keep going."

After those quick scores, "I think we were able to regroup and
kind of stick together and trust our game plan and trust our
coaches and just keep playing hard," said UW-W safety Steven
McCollom.

In all, few scoring drives on Saturday were sustained. Most
relied on big plays and acrobatic performances to add to the
scoreboard's tally.

Coppage, who had 299 yards and three touchdowns, made sure he
kept adding points. He credited his team's work during practice for
helping him reach that mark. He said he got great looks and he knew
exactly where he was going to go on many plays.

Winning, he said, was very satisfying. "This is why we play the
championship. This is why we work hard."

Leipold, Whitwater's coach, echoed that sentiment. "It's not an
accident. The practice, the conditioning: All of those things have
paid off for these guys." Those are the things he can control, he
said. It's not worth worrying about the things he can't.

Whitewater clearly took control in the second half. Brekke said
about that point in the game, "We just took the game over with our
philosophy of pound the rock."

Luke Hibner, a UW-W defensive lineman who had a sack and six
tackles, pointed out that "the entire season, our defensive unit
has been a second-half team. We just locked down in the second
half. I don't think we don't try to do that on purpose, it just
naturally happens."

Not that Mount didn't try to throw Whitewater off its game.
Piloto stepped off the field for a couple of series, and Shorts
channeled the snaps he took in practice and brought the Wildcat
offense to the field. He completed five passes on seven attempts
for 56 yards. He also gain 28 yards running from the
formations.

But Shorts faced a lot of what Piloto had faced for much of the
rest of the game. Whitewater is a fast team defensively. They're
sound. And they don't make a lot of mistakes, Piloto said.

Leipold, who is in his fourth year as the head coach at
Whitewater, said he was particularly proud of this team because
these are the guys he started with as freshmen.

"They came into this program when there was transition," he
said. "They didn't know exactly what was going to happen with the
program. He said he told them, "You win this game today, you will
be the class that every Warhawk football class will be compared
to."

Brekke, who threw for 121 yards, played the entire game at
quarterback, as he had done this whole 2010 postseason, after
regular-season starter Matt Blanchard broke his thumb. After the
game, though, Blanchard celebrated and showed no outward
disappointment at not playing. He, like everyone else on the
sidelines, was proud of those who played tough.

Winning the Stagg Bowl for the third time since 2007, McCulloch
said, "It's unreal, it's awesome."